A Third Of Homeless In U.S., El Paso Are Children

Written for kvia.com by Anchor/Reporter Stephanie Valle

EL PASO, TX — The image you might conjure of a homeless person may not necessarily fit with the facts.The fact is,34 percent of the homeless in the city arechildren.

That staggering figure is backed up by a new study by the National Center on Family Homelessness just released Tuesday. The study finds that 1.5 million children in the United States do not have a place to call home. Texas ranks last on the list of states that have the highest overall risk for child homelessness.

The study researchers say, “Not since the Great Depression, have so many children stood in the sight lines of homelessness.”

According to study, 84 percent of homeless families are headed by women. The average homeless family is headed by a single mother who is in her late twenties and has two young children.

The El Paso Coalition on Homelessness says the main reason behind destitution in the city is domestic violence.

“We don’t have quite the number of families – proportion of families – living in shelters as maybe other communities do,” says Susan Austin, the Executive Director of the Coalition.

Austin thinks the Mexican culture contributes to keeping many of the children off the street and out of shelters. “People are willing to take their extended family members in,” she said.

Austin tells ABC-7 the children who are living in shelters or with family also get help from the state through Region XIX. The education program offers tutoring to children who are not living in ideal conditions.

“Our shelters do a great job – our emergency and transitional shelters do a great job of taking care of the children,” Austin said.

“It’s not ideal, but it’s a lot better than living in the street.”

If you would like to help the families get back on their feet, Austin suggests donating clothing and other items to St. Vincent de Paul or other charities.